Music Reviews November 2010

Neon Trees, Habits (2010)

7 out of 10

Best individual songs are "Sins Of My Youth", "Love And Affection" and "Girls And Boys In School". Its a really short album (only eight songs and a run time of about a half hour) with no awful songs but no great songs either. I guess its preferable to do 8 good songs than 12 or 15 mediocre songs. Neon Trees sound a lot like The Killers - I could have been convinced that the album was  a Killers album. The album is above average - it doesn't or hasn't really been anything more than just somewhat enjoyable.

The Gaslight Anthem, Sink or Swim (2007)

8 out of 10

Its hard to single out one or two songs as being significantly better than any others on the album. Some albums play out as just a bunch of unrelated songs put together but "Sink or Swim" really only works if all the songs are listened to together in my opinion. The final track, "Red At Night" is a nice change of pace and is terrific. The Gaslight Anthem sound sort of like a really angry Bruce Springsteen - there is not as much of the inspirational or upbeat elements as in Springsteen's music and there is more of a punk type anger. Still the album does sound at parts similar to Springsteen (especially in "Red At Night").

James Blunt, Some Kind of Trouble (2010)

6 out of 10

James Blunt is not a great or transcendent artist. His music is simply pleasant - its nice to hear about but is kind of empty. That said I think Blunt does this empty, smooth sounding, and pleasurable type of music better than anyone. Best individual songs on the album are "Stay the Night", "Best Laid Plans", "Dangerous", and "Superstar". It should be said that this album sounds a lot like Blunt's last album (1973) - its almost like a Part II.

Patti Smith, Easter (1978)

6.5 out of 10

Best individual songs are "Because The Night", "Space Monkey", and "Ghost Dance".  "Because The Night" which was written by Bruce Springsteen is just an amazing song and is heads and shoulders above anything else on the album. It might be that the genre of music (Punk Rock) is not really my preferred genre. The album was kind of crude and explicit at times - its not offensive or even troubling at all, just a little surprising. Here is Patti Smith performing "Because The Night" in 1978: